iPhone 5 lightning strikes twice: I want my iPhone 4 back, please

Summary:The iPhone 5 has some great features but there's one that it doesn't and it makes me want my iPhone 4 back. Apple's connector blunder makes me want to toss my iPhone 5 out the window or possibly through one.

In my June 11 post, "I got an iPhone 5, am iOS7 ready, and am irritated," I outlined my excitement with my new iPhone and my disappointment that none of my peripherals and cases would work with it. Yes, I know there's been a lot of articles and angst over the new lightning interface but I'm going to add a little more fuel to that well-stoked fire. I love the lightning interface but I also hate it. Apple should have included a 30-pin to lightning converter with each new device, but of course, they didn't. Some third party companies sell them through Amazon for less than $5 USD but the Apple branded ones are close to $40. Either way, I feel that I'm being...taken advantage of...and I want my iPhone 4 back.

It would be nice if there were a trade-in program where people could trade their unwanted phones for an earlier model. It would also be nice if I could have some of the wasted $200 back for the privilege of using the new phone.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the 30-pin connector. It's large, unreliable, slow, and "handed" (meaning there's only one way to plug it in). I love the new lightning connector but millions of devices were made compatible with the old connector and I'm not going to rebuy everything. I'm just not.

I bought my wife a cool new stereo last year that has the 30-pin dock on it. My daughter has a smaller version of it. Our cases, other peripherals, even my iPhone connector for my Cube is 30-pin. I'm angry about this and I just want my iPhone 4 back.

I suppose that when these phones wear out or when Apple decides to end support for them, we'll switch to something else. We have five iPhones—four of which are 30-pin, four iPads—one of which is 30-pin, and several expensive peripherals—all of which are 30-pin.

Even the new products that companies send me for review still have the 30-pin connectors*. Apple has cost us all a lot of money and I'm not happy. I'm a very dissatisfied customer.

I should have listened to my oldest son who wanted and got a Microsoft Surface. I never hear any complaints out of him about it—and if you knew him, you'd understand how significant that is. I also told my mother-in-law not to buy an iPad, so she got a Galaxy Tablet. I did inform her about the potential for Android's love of electric power, so she was warned. I think she should have waited for the scaled-down Surface that so many predict will be on shelves by Christmas.

We all should have waited, since my daughter only plays Minecraft on her mini and my wife only uses hers for email, Pinterest (ugh), and Facebook (double ugh). I use my iPad 4 for email, taking notes, the random App review, and TriggerFist but not much else. I'm thinking we could have saved a lot of money by buying gadgets with USB connectors and been a heck of a lot happier.

So, my solution to the iPhone 5 problem is to return to the AT&T store where I got my iPhone 5 and to see what I can do about getting an iPhone 4 or 4S back because this is just an intolerable situation for me.

I think this is my last straw with Apple products. I don't really like Android ones either, so don't go there. I don't know what I'll do for a personal phone. Perhaps I'll use a Nokia Windows phone since they're cool—brick heavy but cool and they all use USB—you know USB that's compatible with everything, yeah, that USB.

It would be really nice if Apple could just use USB like everyone else. This whole proprietary, "we have to be different" thing is liable to make me go to Cupertino and hurl the damn thing through one of their windows. I realize that's extreme but that's the way I feel.

So you're probably saying, "Just buy a converter." That would work but not very well. It adds length and another wonky connection to an already delicate connector. A converter would only work on a couple of our peripherals—not all of them. I wouldn't risk my investment in the iCrap that we have nor would I risk damaging my peripherals in the process.

To say the least, I'm frustrated. At the high end, I'm very angry. I was going to try to be cool with the new lightning connector but I just can't. It's not worth it. I'm not going to be a victim of Apple's folly anymore.

I can't live with this iPhone rage.

I want my iPhone 4 back. I'll let you know how that situation goes in another post.

What do you think? Is my anger justified or not? What are my options for going back to an iPhone 4 or 4S? Talk back and let me know.

*The latest is the really cool iRig KEYS universal portable keyboard that I received for review. You can buy a lightning cable but it ships with a 30-pin. Who can blame them? Apple didn't include a converter, so why should anyone else?

Disclosure

My full-time employer is HP. I write as a freelancer for ZDNet. The postings and opinions on this blog are my own and don't necessarily represent HP's, their subsidiaries or affiliates positions, strategies or opinions. I own no investments or direct financial instruments in the companies I write about nor do I serve as an officer or board member of any publicly traded company or concern.